In class Activities: We meet and introduce ourselves and learn a little about the Humanities
We explore basic questions and have a discussion about what humanities involve, how we can study them and how these relate to various aspects of our lives.
Homework tonight:We don't have any homework tonight except for reflection/thinking
Thurs Jan 13 2011
In class Activities: More discussion focused on Laguna Pueblo and the photo of the funeral (see below) in order to practice our methods/understanding/research/thinking skills
Homework tonight Read EE Pritchard's ideas/Levy Bruhl's ideas about the Primitive Mind available here
In class Activity: We'll learn by doing a practice Web quest. Bring laptops, smart phones, smart brains
Art Form = Photo Subject Matter = Funeral Procession at Laguna Pueblo, NM How does humanities scholarship study this image?
Use the following guidelines to begin your study.
Use a method of analysis that works for the particular art form
This is a photo in black and white. Probably the best method of analysis is to describe the photo thoroughly.
Use a journalist's questions to guide your description: who, what, where, when, how, why and why. You might not be able to answer these questions until you've completed some research. Start with the aspects of the image that stand out most to you.
Look at component parts to see how they work together
This photo has no components, but we know that most photos don't exist as an isolated object – so we might consider that the photo is one component of a larger whole, perhaps a photo album, an exhibit, someone's holiday snaps, a marketing/advertisement product?
Can you establish if the photo is part of a larger whole (whatever that might be)?
or read more brochures here site . The existence of such brochures suggests that Indians were sort of historic objects/places to be enjoyed by tourists. Does this help us understand the photo?
Place the work in its social, political, cultural context
First realize that the photo has two aspects -
The content of the photo documents an event at Laguna Pueblo, New Mexico at some point in the past. The event has social, political and cultural contexts relating to Laguna Pueblo.
The photo is also an object created by someone to document this event. So the photo itself has social, political and cultural contexts that are likely to be different from the event documented in the photograph. .
Find laguna pueblo on a map (start with google maps) or search google.
Read the brochure above to think about the context in which the photo was produced. Does the idea of tourism have anything to do with the photo? Visit this web site to find out more about the creation of the southwestern US as a tourist destination
Discover its purpose (intention)
Focus on the purpose of the photograph (or at least its likely purpose).
see above - is the image a representation with a purpose (like Curtis's 'Disappearing Culture' photographs)?
Uncover how it was received by contemporaries
If you can establish the photo's context (social, political and cultural) you can potentially uncover its reception by contemporaries.
Where would you look to begin this research? Which context are you working on - the event and its meaning or the taking of a photo?
Learn iconography (subject matter of art object)
The two aspects noted above apply here also: the event depicted in the photo, and the fact of the photo itself – what is the iconography of this photo (or the iconography of the event depicted in the photo)?
think about the production of images for a mass market - does that model have any significance in this context? Why/Why not?
Investigate biographical remarks, which may include psychological revelations
Who made the photo?
Why was the photo made?
Who was the photo made for?
Why was the photo made for that particular audience?
Can any of these questions be answered? Are they necessary for your response to this web quest? Can you reasonably speculate/offer reasoned arguments to answer these questions?
What resources do you need to develop a humanistic approach to the analysis of this photo? In class, we'll use the internet to find resources and address these different needs. I've given you some starting places above, but there are many more books, journals, images, websites, databases etc. that humanities scholars use to discover and develop an understanding of objects such as this.
Week 1 Tues Jan 11 and Thurs Jan 13, 2011
Tues Jan 11 2011
In class Activities: We meet and introduce ourselves and learn a little about the Humanities
We explore basic questions and have a discussion about what humanities involve, how we can study them and how these relate to various aspects of our lives.
Homework tonight: We don't have any homework tonight except for reflection/thinking
Thurs Jan 13 2011
In class Activities: More discussion focused on Laguna Pueblo and the photo of the funeral (see below) in order to practice our methods/understanding/research/thinking skills
Homework tonight Read EE Pritchard's ideas/Levy Bruhl's ideas about the Primitive Mind available here
eeprichard levybruhl.pdf
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In class Activity: We'll learn by doing a practice Web quest. Bring laptops, smart phones, smart brains
Art Form = Photo
Subject Matter = Funeral Procession at Laguna Pueblo, NM
How does humanities scholarship study this image?
Use the following guidelines to begin your study.
- This photo has no components, but we know that most photos don't exist as an isolated object – so we might consider that the photo is one component of a larger whole, perhaps a photo album, an exhibit, someone's holiday snaps, a marketing/advertisement product?
- Can you establish if the photo is part of a larger whole (whatever that might be)?
possible resources:http://www.nmai.si.edu/subpage.cfm?subpage=exhibitions&second=online
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award98/ienhtml/essay2.html
- First realize that the photo has two aspects -
- The content of the photo documents an event at Laguna Pueblo, New Mexico at some point in the past. The event has social, political and cultural contexts relating to Laguna Pueblo.
- The photo is also an object created by someone to document this event. So the photo itself has social, political and cultural contexts that are likely to be different from the event documented in the photograph. .
Find laguna pueblo on a map (start with google maps) or search google.Read the brochure above to think about the context in which the photo was produced. Does the idea of tourism have anything to do with the photo? Visit this web site to find out more about the creation of the southwestern US as a tourist destination
- Focus on the purpose of the photograph (or at least its likely purpose).
see above - is the image a representation with a purpose (like Curtis's 'Disappearing Culture' photographs)?- If you can establish the photo's context (social, political and cultural) you can potentially uncover its reception by contemporaries.
Where would you look to begin this research? Which context are you working on - the event and its meaning or the taking of a photo?- The two aspects noted above apply here also: the event depicted in the photo, and the fact of the photo itself – what is the iconography of this photo (or the iconography of the event depicted in the photo)?
think about the production of images for a mass market - does that model have any significance in this context? Why/Why not?- Who made the photo?
- Why was the photo made?
- Who was the photo made for?
- Why was the photo made for that particular audience?
Can any of these questions be answered? Are they necessary for your response to this web quest? Can you reasonably speculate/offer reasoned arguments to answer these questions?What resources do you need to develop a humanistic approach to the analysis of this photo? In class, we'll use the internet to find resources and address these different needs. I've given you some starting places above, but there are many more books, journals, images, websites, databases etc. that humanities scholars use to discover and develop an understanding of objects such as this.